"A Bite, Dad! Bite, Bite!"

Cami absolutely would not be ignored while Jared was enjoying his icecream tonight. She knows how to get what she wants.

First Trip to Botanical Garden

This month's Relief Society Meeting was at the St Louis Botanical Garden, where the kids and I visited this morning for the first time.

I cannot believe this photo is actually one that I took. We got to stand by a real live banana tree.
Kyle's checking to make sure that Rex doesn't see us.

This spot would have been great to stay and get more photos at, but we had to keep moving! We had a couple of soccer games to get to!

Photogenic dude. This smile reminds me of picture day at school. I ask him what they said to get him to smile and he told me, "Give us your best smile!" and showed me a smile, something like this.

Kyle is into a "spikey hair" look these days.

I wish we could have stayed longer! It is free to go on Saturday mornings, so we will definitely have to do this again when soccer season is over.

A Short, Forgiveable Farewell

I remember...

Without fail,
In rain,or Shine,Cami's pigtails brightened anyone's day...

I remember when her hair was just getting long enough to play with.Irresistible loops!Kyle loves her so much, too. I'm guessing he must love her pigtails so much that...

He could just keep them, in her helmet, hidden, under a blanket in her room. They will be missed!

(Jared found Kyle in the act, and told me to grab the camera. I didn't get a picture in time for the action; Kyle was otherwise occupied by the wall in a time out. He is grounded from scissors, and for the rest of that afternoon he, "didn't get to do anything fun!" It is a good thing that Kyle is so easily lovable and has a pair of irresistable, fluffy, kissable cheeks!)

Lance's Birthday

Birthday Morning before school: Lance is wearing the shirt he really wanted me to make for him with Sharpie markers to match one of Kyle's, also marker-made. Jace is being like mom, too busy worrying about their masks to put his own on. I've done that with sunblock too many times. Lance's Birthday turned out to be "a Super, Duper, Plooper Day". As he wrote in his Kindergartin class's Birthday journal:

("I had a batman party. We played batman, ran around my house, ate cake, opened presents, had soccer practice. It was a SUPER DUPER PLOOPER DAY. By, Lance")

When they got here, his friends climbed through the "bat cave", got their capes and decorated masks on, and after running around like wild batmen, they played a few games like "Mr. Freeze" - when the music stops. I didn't even know there was a Mr. Freeze in Batman, but then, the last time I watched Batman was in '89. Hey, I'm one up on Lance, who hasn't seen any of them! He just wanted this party because his friend and our neighbors had one that was really fun back in Utah. That was almost a year ago. Ah, good memories...

Speaking of which, when I was finding batman music on the internet, I remembered the "Batdance" music by Prince. Do you remember that? I would have used it for Lance's party if it didn't have inappropriate stuff in it. I was so bummed. Such a catchy beat. Made me want to start dancing at 1 am when I was finding it.

Anyway, thanks to my sister, Jamie, I was able to find some appropriate batman music from the 60's. It was great. Thanks, Jamie :)

Anyways, playing "Follow the Joker"Waiting in line to-Pin the Bat on BatmanKyle was smallest, so he got first hit at the pinata. Turned out that he got the only hit while it was still in the air. So each kid got a turn beating Batman while he lay on the ground. Whoever thought of making the hero of the party a beating target? Seems like it should be the bad guy, but then that doesn't encourage good or praiseworthy feelings, either. I told Jared that maybe next time we'll go back to beating homemade soccer ball pinatas (his BD last year). At least they would last longer.

(Lance's birthday last year with his cousins, at the cabin - miss those times!)

Later, I found the label on Lance's shelf that got taken off the pinata when filling it. It said: "Pull-String Pinata: A safe, fun party activity! Ask each child to take a turn and stand under the pinata, select a ribbon, and pull it. Only one ribbon opens the hidden door and releases the goodies."

I still think the kids had more fun beating the dude on the ground.

Partyin' friendsMommy and Batgirl

Happy Birthday, my super duper 6 year old!

Which Day Was That?

"Lance, when is your birthday?"

"After the tomorrow day happens. The tomorrow day, and then that tomorrow, the other tomorrow is going to be my birthday."

Storytime

I love this: It's bedtime, and Dad is reading to his future hunters the story, "The Dancing Deer and the Foolish Hunter".

We Have a Violinist

Jace came home one day and said he wants to be in the 5th Grade Orchestra! So as soon as we could leave the kids home with Jared ( about a week and a half later), we went to the music store and rented this violin. He can already play the beginning of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star!" A friend in his orchestra class taught him.
He remembered playing with his Grampa Gilland, and he also took a bit of piano lessons from his Gramma. So I had to pull this out:I made this a while back for my parent's music room. Jace is 5 years old, playing a violin duet with his Grampa Gilland, then listening to them both, then making music with his Gramma Kimmy, who is a talented pianist and teacher of many years.

Hurray for music and talent in the genes!

Jace's First Soccer Game of the Season

Dribbling away.

The game didn't turn out the way Jace would have liked, but it's the fun and experience that counts, right? Daddy went exploring with the kids while I got to sit back and enjoy the game. It was so nice to have Jared with us during the game. When I told him it would be great if he could work his schedule so he could be with us for all the games, he just laughed at me.

The End. The key to good photography is getting the best angle. At least I had it right for Kyle's shorts that he put on backwards.

It's a Monarch Poo-pa!

Kyle found it one day on our green bean bushes, then lost it. The following day, Lance found it again, among the same green bean bushes. He was so excited to have "the one that found it" privileges. They used a timer to take 5 minute turns with the "poo-pa", as Kyle called it after we looked at and learned about the life cycles of a butterfly.

Taking Turns

Just Ramblings...

It's been busy here! I love and miss my blog and my friends back in Utah. One of these dear friends said she just spent an hour on my blog. I feel like we almost got to spend that time together. I'm so grateful for email and, of course, blogs, for making it so much easier for us to keep in touch! On that note, I'm going to share a part of an email I wrote to one friend today, nothing big, just notes I want to get down for my own blogging and journaling. I actually enjoy reading my blog, too :)

"Tonight I got to leave Cami home with Dad while I went to help coach Kyle's soccer team, and it was SO MUCH FUN! I forgot how much I enjoy coaching. I thought for the first time, that I would really enjoy being a soccer coach for my younger kid's teams. I can't do the competitive stuff, just the fun.
Anyway, we have a playgroup in our ward here, so it's been great to visit with other moms every Friday and get to know the ward better. There are a few other resident families here as well.
I am starting a new thing now. Don't laugh because you have probably already been doing it. Okay, laugh. It's sort of a common sense thing that just came to me today as an epiphany:
Right before the weekend, get the house clean enough for company so that we CAN invite people over!
So today, all the floors got swept and mopped in a major way. I even rolled up the rug so I could get underneath it. It's a really long rug that runs from our back door, across the house to the hallway. " Cami took a long nap, and in the afternoons, Lance and Kyle play so well outside together, like two buddies that didn't get to see each other all morning ;)

I miss summer when I didn't have to mop floors or unload dishwashers. But I am loving the crisp, cool air I'm beginning to feel. I'm getting excited for Christmas. A Christmas where I can unpack all the decorations and not hold back. I was singing Christmas songs today just thinking of it! I already know where the tree will go. Jared laughed at that.

Anyway, I am loving it here (if you haven't already guessed). I love the location of our home. It is right in the center of our friends on our street, so they come here to play! Our back yard is perfectly huge. Jace is learning how to mow it all. And now I'd best be off to bed. Jace's first soccer game is early tomorrow morning!

Big Brother

We were at Kyle's soccer practice, and another soccer mom asked me if she could take Cami home with her. I sat down with her and we chatted for a bit, Cami happily sitting in her lap, Lance sitting on his soccer ball with us. I got up to help Kyle for a minute while Lance and Cami sat with the soccer mom. When I returned, she told me that while I was gone, Lance explained to her,

"You know, you really can't take her with you."

Oh, what will her brothers do in a few years when she goes on a date!